Junkyards :(

[norcalmike]

We still have Pick n Pull around here. Its owned by Snitzer Steel so I know they got deep pockets for Liability Insurance.
Its nice to have pull it yourself yards around here but the Aircooled VWs seem to be getting less and less.

[drscope]

[norcalmike]

its 2 bucks here at PnP

[raygreenwood]

A couple of notes....and I have been in junkyards in about 30 states.

The pick and pull type yards are very carefully managed.....and HIGHLY regulated.
That $1 charge is as others have noted....quite a bit of money at these yards. I have been told by a yard employee at Pick and Pull in Dallas that on weekends that $1 charge....equals out to about $1500 - 2000 per day. On weekdays in warm weather.....its about 1/2 to 3/4 of that.

You will notice that many of these places sort transmissions and aluminum block engines and heads from cars going to the crusher into gondolas and bins. If you buy one...great....if nit.....they go to the recylcer.
Batteries are sorted into good and sold for as much as $10...or scrap...and sold for about $2 each.

Good tires.....are sold on site or taken once a week....to Mexico. Living in Texas you will see about 25 trucks a week filled with used but servicable tires heading south. This is because Mexico to date has no nationalized tire factories of their own. A new set of tires will run the average Mexican about 2-3 months pay.

The junkyards get about $2 per tire. The antifreeze is roughly fiotered and usually sold for about $1 per gallon....and it, sells surprisingly well. Any tools found in trunks are, usually on a table for sale...and sell well.

If you add all of that up...its significant money. The model is to pay all employees and much of the overhead with small recycleables like this.

The parts sales is just gravy. Part of what pays for the overhead.

The real and sole business of these places and the main steady cash cow is NOT parts sales.....its scrap metal. Make no mistake. In most large cities like Dallas, Houston and Atlanta....if you see a part that is good...get it now. Even classic cars dont stay around long. They keep moving toward the crusher.

The regulatory costs of these yards are high. They have to have ground water permits for waste water runoff, air quality permits and they have.....if you go digging around outside the perimeter usually on the side of the yard with any, downhill grade.....you will find at least one groundwater test well. These places get fined all the time. You just dont hear about it.

Also these yards in most big cities are pure parts carnage. They dont care what parts you break to get them off. Virtually every trip on the saturday to one of these yards in Dallas...you see at least 2-3 guys pulling their pile of parts to the front on top of what was a good engine hood ....with a rope.

This attitude....is whwhy so many, real classic salvage yards not into it for scrap iron.....no longer want you walking around unattended. Not only are they liable if you get hurt.....they get tired of the current generation of pick and pull educated idiots breaking high dollar parts to get what they need.

Also a lot of the smaller non, corporate yards are being subjected to EPA and groundwater regulations.....and its either costing them....or they are going out of business. ....not just because the cities are being mean....but because many, state and fity, water and air districts are also subject to federal testing, filing and reporting each year because they receive federal funding for everything from highway funds to watershed and drought insurance.
Your city receives farm related drought insurance because you say you dont have enough water?.....and Fed inspectors find out you have X% of groundwater pollution, due to unregilated yards and industrual sites? ......and they crack down you to crack down on them.

Also.....I dont blame the, Fed in this respect. Ever seen whats left over after a junkyard of 30-40 years age is removed?....I have seen three to be exact. All three had to be excavated down about 6-10 feet in many locations. Old oil, battery lead, fuels etc.
all on your watertable.....and being paid for for cleanup by your taxes. Just sayin.....dont ckmplain, so much....and dont steal from the yards that still trust you. Ray

[Wildthings]

I think the $1 entrance fee may have something to do with liability, but don't really know.

[DuaneL]

I know at the pull n save near me it is our signature on the waiver that we sign when we pay our 2 dollars that covers the liability, and that place is busy and also lists it's inventory of cars (but not what parts they have) online so I just check daily to see if any new air cooled came in (though I do really miss the few volkswagen only yards we had back in the late 80s early 90s here)
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1971 std bug, 1776, ACN Super Stock 34-3, dvda dist, 27x8.50 14 tires

[minger]

Like most analogies this has its limits but this sounds like what happened to book stores. Folks loved (or at least claimed to) to browse old local book shops, dust off old hardly touched jackets to find a gem hiding behind stacks of ‘pop’ stuff. Big chains challenged the local joints on price but the locals fought back with more obscure stuff and both coexisted. And then BAM! Amazon showed up beating most on price and selection of rare stuff. For some, they miss the romance/fun of walking the aisles and finding unexpected items but that is a tiny market. With powerful searching and sourcing, anyone can find that rare book and not rely on luck or spend the time looking for it. Folks claimed to enjoy the old book stores but when it came to voting with their wallet, Amazon won.
Time is money. I too love to just cruise the yards looking for ideas but most people value their time over thrill of the hunt and are willing to pay the premium price to get exactly what they want and WHEN they want it.

[Wildthings]

When we had local yards, I would often stop by and just browse. Go in walk around looking under hoods, inside the cabs, and in the trunks. Sometimes I would buy nothing at all and at other times I would end up with a pile of odd stuff from various makes and models that I thought I could make work for some project. In particular I would gather up fasteners that others had discarded which I would later fill my bolt bins with. No way that Amazon can duplicate this.

[minger]

I agree. A few weeks ago while at a junk yard looking for something specific, which I did not find, I saw an old S class Benz sitting there. Few minutes later the front passenger seat was in my truck and now I have a MB garage chair that is quite nice thank you. I also learned to save 'random' fasteners since you can never order those parts or if you do, it by lots of 100 and you only need one.